PlayStation 4 / Kinect 2 Another Step Towards Virtual Reality

PlayStation 4 has shown itself to be quite the console for lifelong gamers to experience innovation through. From its instant on philosophy of playing games immediately after purchasing (via cloud streaming while the rest of it downloads to your console) to its ability to buy and stream/download additional content for titles without stopping the gameplay.

The support for discs and used games is still existent in the PlayStation 4’s current plans, and there’s a lot more still being revealed for the system.

Perhaps one of the most talked about specifications of the PlayStation 4 is the Move technology that is built-in to the new DualShock 4 controller. This is something like the Six Axis technology in the PlayStation 3 controller, but on a whole new level. There is also the light on the DualShock 4 that has many talking (both negatively aesthetically for those who find it ugly, to speculatively for those unsure of its purpose).

The light on the DualShock 4 will in fact provide a tracking system for the gamer’s physical location in real life. PlayStation 4’s “PlayStation Eye 4” will be used for gamers playing Move titles on the PS4 but it will also track the gamer against their environment with the DualShock 4.

The ability to know where a gamer will be able to produce virtual reality-like conditions. Beyond what the PlayStation Move has produced us in gaming experiences, it is not completely out of the question to expect DualShock 4 to take us further. It may be true that there are some experiences that are best suited for the Move or a couple of Moves (one in each hand), thus prolonging its life cycle well into the future with PS4. However, there are definitely also experiences that should be played with the DualShock 4 optimally as well.

The currently unrevealed Microsoft Xbox 720’s Kinect 2.0 will use similar technology to Xbox 360’s Kinect and PlayStation 4’s Eye 4 to bring experiences to a new place. Microsoft has said to be working on the concept of Virtual Reality-like games for some time now, experimenting with their 3D Camera before most other game companies were prepared to go mainstream with the technology.

However, it remains to be seen which titles will be developed for the platform, whereas PlayStation 4 has a very healthy roster of upcoming titles right now that can be enhanced with this functionality.

Editor’s Note: RealGamerNewZ has moved web servers, some older posts can no longer be commented on and have been preserved without their images. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. This article was written by Jon Ireson on 20130224 and was last modified on 20130225 .